WASHINGTON, Dec 4 — Evan Fournier led six Orlando players in double figures with 31 points and the Magic used a balanced attack to overcome a 42-point performance by Bradley Beal to beat the host Washington Wizards 127-120 yesterday.
DJ Augustin (24 points), Markelle Fultz (20), Aaron Gordon (18), Terrence Ross (14) and Jonathan Isaac (11) also scored in double figures for the Magic, who set a season high in points in winning their second straight and for the third time in their last four.
Davis Bertans had 21 points, Isaiah Thomas 20 and Rui Hachimura 15 to back Beal for the Wizards, who lost their third straight.
Orlando, which had a 125-121 home win over Washington earlier in the season, held the lead for most of the contest, going up nine in the first quarter and 68-50 with 1:14 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Fournier.
Washington made its best run of the game to start the second half, with Bertans nailing three 3-pointers and Beal two in a 21-6 burst that allowed the Wizards momentarily to take a lead at 75-74 less than four minutes into the period.
But Gordon countered immediately with a 3-pointer of his own and the Magic never trailed again, going up by as many as 11 before the third quarter’s end and 104-88 in the second minute of the fourth period.
The Wizards never got closer than the final margin after that.
Fournier’s point total was mostly the result of 6-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers. The Magic connected on 15 of 31 shots from distance, outscoring the Wizards 45-36 from beyond the arc.
The Magic used 51.1-per cent shooting overall to eclipse their previous season-high point total, recorded in their first meeting with the Wizards.
Beal, who had five 3-pointers and 34 points in the first meeting, shot 3 of 6 from deep this time around en route to his fourth 40-point outing of the season.
Washington lost despite shooting 50.6 per cent.
Gordon was the game’s leading rebounder, completing a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Thomas had a game-high seven assists for Washington. — Reuters
